Martin McElhinney

Martin McElhinney (born 10 August 1988) is an Irish Gaelic footballer who plays for Naomh Mícheál and also, formerly, for the Donegal county team (between 2007 and 2019).

Martin McElhinney
Personal information
Irish name Máirtín Mac Giolla Chainnigh[1]
Sport Gaelic football
Position Midfield
Born (1988-08-10) August 10, 1988
County Donegal
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Occupation Student
Club(s)
Years Club
?–
 Naomh Mícheál
Inter-county(ies)
Years County Apps (scores)
2007–2019
 Donegal 104[2]
Inter-county titles
Ulster titles 4
All-Irelands 1

Among other accolades, he has one All-Ireland Senior Football Championship and four Ulster Senior Football Championships to his name.[2] He is from Creeslough.[2]

Playing career

Club and college

McElhinney's club reached the final of the 2011 Donegal Senior Football Championship— their first ever senior final—but lost, though McElhinney scored during the game.[3][4]

McElhinney also played for DCU.[5]

Inter-county

McElhinney scored two goals for Donegal at Croke Park in the 2006 Ulster Minor Football Championship Final, which Donegal won.[6]

He made his debut at senior inter-county level under the management of Brian McIver in 2007.[2]

By the time of Jim McGuinness's arrival as manager, McElhinney was still part of the team. Against Derry in the 2011 Ulster Senior Football Championship final, Rory Kavanagh went off injured late in the first half and McElhinney replaced him.[7] In the 2012 Ulster final against Down, his appearance as a second-half substitute was credited with being vital to the victory.[8] He started Donegal's next game, a comprehensive All-Ireland Senior Football Championship quarter-final defeat of Kerry at Croke Park.[9][10] He came on as a second-half substitute for Patrick McBrearty in the 2012 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final, won by Donegal.[11] He was treated like a VIP when himself and Maxi Curran brought the Sam Maguire Cup to Mulroy College in Milford.[12]

McElhinney started Rory Gallagher's first match in charge of the county, a 2015 Dr McKenna Cup away defeat to Derry.[13]

Under the management of Declan Bonner, McElhinney made his 100th appearance for Donegal against Cavan in the 2019 Dr McKenna Cup.[2] Following Donegal's victory over Armagh in the 2019 National Football League, McElhinney informed Bonner of his decision to withdraw from inter-county football. He had been an unused substitute in that game and the game before, though he had played in three earlier games of that year's league.[2] These were a substitute appearance in the opening fixture of the competition against Clare in Ennis,[14] Meath in the second fixture (starting then making way for Jason McGee),[15] and again as a substitute, on this occasion for Oisín Gallen, in the third fixture against Tipperary.[16]

Honours
Donegal
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gollark: Anyway, apiofacturing (apioform manufacturing) is *another* different process, naturally.
gollark: We don't use C thus no.
gollark: Apioization uses algorithms and coding.
gollark: Apioization mostly just has to fix vowels and stuff.

References
  1. "Countdown to Croker: Donegal name 'team' for All-Ireland final". Donegal Daily. 20 September 2014. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
  2. McNulty, Chris (6 March 2019). "All-Ireland winner Martin McElhinney pulls out of Donegal panel". Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  3. "Murphy is the star as Glenswilly triumph". The Irish Times. 2 October 2011. Retrieved 20 September 2012.
  4. "Murphy magic proves key as Glenswilly secure first Donegal crown". Irish Independent. 3 October 2011. Retrieved 3 October 2011.
  5. Keane, Paul (28 March 2016). "Donegal turn blind eye to James McCarthy incident". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 28 March 2016. It was McCarthy's tangle with Donegal substitute Martin McElhinney, ironically an ex-team-mate at DCU, that was particularly controversial as the Dublin defender's left hand made contact with McElhinney's eye area.
  6. "Second-half surge sees Donegal end long title wait". Irish Independent. 10 July 2006. Retrieved 10 July 2006.
  7. "Donegal 1–11 Derry 0-08". RTÉ Sport. 17 July 2011. Retrieved 17 July 2011.
  8. Campbell, John (3 August 2012). "With McLoone on board McGuinness has all angles covered". The Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 3 August 2012. McLoone's actual role in the side to face Kerry on Sunday is still uncertain given that McGuinness is continuing to study the fitness of midfielder Neil Gallagher while also assessing the credentials of Martin McElhinney. It was McElhinney who turned the tide in Donegal's favour against Down when he went in as a second-half substitute to impose himself forcibly at midfield, winning invaluable possession that was translated into scores.
  9. "Donegal supporters on the edge of their seats". Donegal Democrat. 7 August 2012. Retrieved 7 August 2012. Kerry's Paul Galvin is forced off the ball by Martin McElhinney, Frank McGlynn and Anthony Thompson.
  10. "Donegal 1-12 Kerry 1-10". RTÉ Sport. 5 August 2012. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  11. "Live updates from the All-Ireland finals at Croke Park". RTÉ Sport. 23 September 2012. Retrieved 23 September 2012.
  12. "The day Sam got the 'Max' from Mulroy College". 13 November 2012. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
  13. McNulty, Chris (4 January 2015). "Report: Rory Gallagher's experimental Donegal well beaten by Derry". Donegal News. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  14. Lynch, Derrick (27 January 2019). "Missing a host of regulars, Donegal come away from Clare with victory". The42.ie. Retrieved 27 January 2019.
  15. Campbell, Peter (2 February 2019). "Fortuitous goal sees Donegal come back to beat Meath". RTÉ Sport. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  16. Fallon, John (10 February 2019). "Casey strikes late goal as Tipp come back to shock Donegal". The42.ie. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
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